Gopher cultivator



(No Model.) 2 SheetS-Sheet 2.

D. SNEL-LIM. GPHEB. ULTIVATOR.

No. 412,426. 'Patented ont. 87,-1889.

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DAvID sNELLINc, oF FREEDOM, ILLINOIS.

. G'QPH ER cu LTIVAToR.

SPEQIFICfLTION forming part of Letters Patent No. Ll12,426, dated October 8, 1889.

I Application iled April 8, 1889. Serial No. 306,451. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, DAVID SNELLING, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Freedom, in thecountyof La Salle and State of Illinois, have inuented a Vcertain new and useful Improvement in Gopher Cultivators;

which is fully setwforth in the following speciiication, reference being had to theaccompa- Y nying drawings, in Which- Figure lis a plan view of a construction `embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side eievation; Fig. 3, a detail plan section taken on y the nn@ I I OfFig. A2; Fig. I, adetansectionai view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig 2, and Fig. 5 a detail view of the arch. v

Like letters referto like parts in -allthe gures of the drawings'.

My invention relates to cultivators, and more particularly to that class known as gopher cultivators, and has for its object to provide a construction which will permit the shovels and shovel-frame to befreely moved laterally while at work, while at the same time their relation withl regard to each other and with regard to the line of `draft will always remain the same, thus always preserving an equal distance between the shovels, while at the same time they are always presented at the same angle to the'I line ofdraft.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features, which I will now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point ont in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents acultivatorframe -of any approved construction, that shown in the present instance being composed of a main frame a, provided with downwardly and outwardly bent axles a', upon which the wheels a2 are mounted.r y To the axles a. there are connected, by any suitable form of coupling A which will permit of free'lateral and vertical movement, the draft-beams or links B, located one on each side of the apparatus.

C represents the gopher-frame, which is a rigid frame composed of two similar halves connected by a rigid arch, and to which the rear endsof the draft-beams or links B are pivoted. Each half of the gopher-frame C is composed of a gopher-beam C ,formed in one piece, with the inclined standards c at its ends, to which standards the gopher-shovels D are attached, said shovels being braced by rods cl, extending from their forward ends to the standard-tops.

E represents acasting, to the outer face of which the beam C is bolted, said casting being provided with lugs e at its 4'rear end, between which the beam is embraced in order to hold it more firmly in position. To the inner face of this casting the handle C2 is 6o secured by means of a boltc2 at its forward end, said handle being supported by means of an upright C3, having'itslower end bolted to the beam C near its rear end, while its upper end is provided with a series of apertures c3, through one of which and through the handle C2 a bolt C4 passes. By this means the height of the handle may be adjusted.

n 'lhe casting E is provided at its front end with a ange E, standing at an angle to the 7o body, and tothe rear face of this flange the lower end of the arch F is secured by means of bolts f, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. Braces F extend from the crown of the arch to the rear of the gopher-beams C. 7 5

The arch F is preferably constructed in two separate parts, the ends overlapping at. the crown, as shown inFigs. l and 5, and being con nected by bolts f passing through slots f 2, in order to permit adjustment of the two por- 8o tions of the arch to increase or diminish the lateral distance between the gophenbeams.

From the front of the flange E there extend forward lugs e ,which are perforated for the passage of the bolt E2, which forms the pivot between the draft-beam B and the gopher-frame C. The connection at this point is effected by pivoting to the rear end of the beam B a casting B', connected thereto by means of a pivot-bolt b, and provided at its 9o forward end with a curved slot b', through which a clamping bolt b2 passes into the beam B. By reason of this connection the angle of the casting B with relation to the beam B may be varied, as desired, to alter the set of the shovels. From the casting B there extend rearward lugs h3, which are perforated for the bolt E2, and these lugs being inserted between the lugs e on the casting E, the bolt E2 is passed down through the Whole ofthem roo hook or loop F2, by means of which it may be suspended upon the rearwardly-extending central member a of the frame A when not in use, in the manner usual in cultivators of this description.

The apparatus thus constructed operates in the following manner: The cultivatorframe A may be, as hereinbefore stated, any approved form of cultivator-frame, the remainder of the apparatus being designed principally as an attachment thereto. When it' is desired to use the gopher attachment, the cultivator-gangs are detached from the frame A, and the draft-beams are coupled to said frame in their place. Now, it will be 0b- Vserved that these draft-beams B are of equal length and substantially parallel, the lateral dist-ance separating their rear. ends being about equal to the lateral distance between their front ends. There may, of course, be a slight divergence from this parallelism, and in the drawings I have shown such a slight divergence, which may be increased or diminished, or, indeed, entirely overcome, by the adjustment of the two sections of the arch F, and which is not in any case sutlicient to materially aiect the operation hereinafter described. It will at once be seen that the gopher-frame C may be moved laterally, as desired, while the machine is in operation, so as to accommodate its position to the row upon which it is operating, and owing to the fact that the said frame is a rigid frame the lateral distance between the shovels will always be the same, no matter what its position may be. At the -same time, owing to its connection to the cnltivator-frame by means of the two parallel beams B of equal length, the said frame will always maintain the Ysame relative position to the line of draft, and will not assume an angling position, but will a1- wa'ys face squarely to the front, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings. The construction of the gopher-frame is, moreover, simple and cheap, and at the same time strong, the castings E serving as a kind of base to which the various portions of the frame are attached and by which they are firmly supported.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the principle of my invention, and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself strictly to the precise details hereinbefore described, and shown in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with th'e cultivatorframe, of the gopher-frame consisting of two beams provided with shovels and the arch rigidly connecting the same, and the draft beams, substantially parallel and of equal length and pivoted at their rear ends to the gopher-frame, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, with the gopher-beams, the handles, the arch, and the draft-beams, of the castings E, adapted to receive and support said parts, which are connected thereto, substantially as and for the purposes speciiied.

3. The combination, with the gopher-frame having apertured lugs e', of the draft-beams B, the castings B', adjustably connected to the rear end of the draft-beams and provided with apertured lugs ba, and the pivot-bolts E2, passing through said lugs, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

DAVID SNELLING.

Witnesses H. H. TOWN, lD. A. TOWN. 

